THE GREYHOUND found shot in the head and left dying ran at Ayr Greyhound Stadium the previous night.

The dog finished last in its race, says vet Lorna Lazenby, who put the dog down after being called out.

A cottage-owner near Dalrymple heard the dog’s yelps of agony, and Lorna found it had been shot in the head with an airgun.

Lorna knows who owned the dog, from a racing tattoo number she found on its ear.

But the SSPCA says it can’t prosecute – because police told Lorna to dispose of the dog’s body, without doing a post-mortem.

SSPCA spokesperson Doreen Graham said: “We want to prosecute all cases of animal cruelty. But our legal experts tell us that without a body we can’t make a case.”

Doreen added: “The bottom line is that the decision by the police was entirely inappropriate. We would have taken the dog’s body to a Glasgow University expert for photographs and a post-mortem. And we would have been confident of a prosecution.”

Vet Lorna said: “I asked the police if they needed a post-mortem. But 15 minutes later they phoned me back to say ‘No, just dispose of it’.”

However, a police spokesman insisted this week that inquiries are ongoing, and the case could be prosecuted.

The matter is now in the hands of wildlife officer, Constable Sam Clark, based in Dalmellington. Anyone with information is asked to contact her on 01292 550322 or sam.clark@strathclyde.pnn.police.uk

Ayr Greyhound Stadium staff are helping police with their inquiries into the dog’s death.

A spokesman said: “We’ve showed police the owner’s records. And he won’t be allowed to race his dogs here until this matter is fully investigated.

“We have a zero tolerance policy to anyone being cruel to dogs, and we have a vet on call if any dogs are injured while racing.

“Sadly, this wee dog won’t be the first to meet this kind of end. And we really need to make an example of people who would do this or be involved in it.”

Lorna Lazenby went back to the Dalrymple area this week with volunteers from Greyhound Rescue Scotland.

And they found a second dead greyhound lying in the thick undergrowth.

Lorna said: “There’s no way of knowing how many dogs could have died there.

Jamiedan Flyer came last at a meeting earlier this month, despite being heavily favoured by punters.

Later that night, the terrified animal's howls were heard by a couple who later found him lying against a tree in a pool of blood. A local vet was called in an attempt to help the dog, but it was so badly injured it had to be put down.

Last night vet Lorna Lazenby said she was disgusted when she arrived to help the stricken animal as it lay in the ditch near Dalrymple, Ayrshire.

She said "when I got there, the dog was in real distress and was howling-he was completely out of it. All he had was a little hole in his temple, as if he had been shot by an airgun, and there was a lot of blood.

It was so sad because there was nothing I could do to help him. I was just glad I was able to ease his suffering and put him down."

Later the dog was identified as Jamiedan Flyer, from a tattoo on his ear and it emerged that he came last at Ayr greyhound stadium on July 8th.

An insider at the track said "There had been heavy betting on the dog and a lot of money was lost. There were rumours this was going to happen and everyone at the track was disgusted when we found out what had happened."

Alan Shaw, the owner of the dog, has since been banned from racing at Ayr.

Outside his home in Dalrymple yesterday, construction worker Mr Shaw said he only had the dog for a couple of weeks and sold it after the race. He added "I was sickened when I found out what had happened tohim. The only reason I sold him was because I was building a new shed in my back garden to keep my greyhounds."

Mr Shaw refused to reveal to whom he sold the animal.

A spokesman at the track confirmed that all of Mr Shaw's dogs had been banned from future race cards pending further inquiry.

It is now feared the remote spot in South Ayrshire has been used as an execution site for failed racing dogs over a long period of time.

Days after the attack, workers at Greyhound Rescue Scotland found the remains of a second dog lying just a few hundred yards away at the bottom of the same ditch.

Charity worker Carol Scott said "It looks like this dog had also been taken to this ditch to be killed and that it died the same way. It was found further down and close to a stream, as if it had been crawling to get a drink of water.

We work so hard to rehome greyhounds and most owners will work with us to get their dogs a good home when their racing days are over.

It is very distressing that some owners cannot work with us or even have their dogs put down humanely."

A spokesman for the SSPCA said it could not take any action because the body of the dog had been disposed of before a post mortem examination could be carried out.

He added "In any potential case of animal cruelty, we would advise that the body is kept as evidence. Unfortunately the police advised the vet to dispose of the body and there was nothing further we could do."

Charities estimate that thousands of greyhounds are killed every year, they outlive their racing usefulness.

GA comment: This dog was heavily fancied to win the race and lots of money had been bet on him ... yet he came last and was immediately disposed of ... this seems to us to be very suspicious and it would have been very interesting to see what an autopsy would have uncovered ... could this also have been a case of doping? or even race fixing? As the Police didn't ask for an autopsy and in fact asked that the body be disposed of with great haste ... we will never know.

To quote from the report:

An insider at the track said "There had been heavy betting on the dog and a lot of money was lost. There were rumours this was going to happen and everyone at the track was disgusted when we found out what had happened."